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Former Labour MP Stuart Nash is returning to politics as a New Zealand First candidate, officially confirming widespread speculation the former Cabinet minister is ditching his Labour affiliations. The Herald can reveal Nash will contest the Napier electorate for NZ First, a seat he held for three terms before he left politics after being sacked from Cabinet by then Prime Minister and current Labour leader Chris Hipkins in 2023. Nash is also addressing the controversial comment he made last year about women for the first time in a media interview, admitting he is deeply regretful and accepts not all voters will forgive him as he eyes a return to Parliament. “I would be naive to think all New Zealanders will forgive me,” Nash told the Herald. “Some will think that these comments are who I am and the only way to prove them wrong is actually just to work really hard to prove that I’m actually a man who is respectful to everyone.” It comes as Nash fires a broadside at his former party, which he believes wouldn’t be recognised by its icons of the past, including his great-grandfather Sir Walter Nash, a former Labour leader and Prime Minister. “Some would argue that maybe the Labour Party has done its dash, maybe what is now needed is a pragmatic party that does stand up for good, hard-working Kiwis.” New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says he sees Nash as a Cabinet minister in a future Government, telling the Herald Nash has learned from his mistakes while revealing Nash’s comments about women did make Peters question whether Nash could achieve a political comeback. Nash, 58, was first elected as a Labour list MP in 2008. Unable to return in 2011, Nash won the Napier electorate in 2014 and held it for two subsequent terms. Stuart Nash was a minister for Labour across two terms. Photo / George Novak He rose through the ranks to become a minister in Cabinet from 2017, when Labour governed in coalition with NZ First and again in 2020, when Labour secured its single-party majority. Nash held significant portfolios including police, revenue and fisheries. However, multiple breaches of the rules governing Cabinet ministers eventually led to Hipkins sacking him in March 2023. His breaches included appearing to encourage the then Police Commissioner to appeal a judge’s sentencing, asking a senior official to look into an immigration matter concerning a Napier constituent and violating Cabinet’s principles of collective responsibility and confidentiality by revealing Cabinet details to two businessmen, who had also donated to Nash. After leaving politics, Nash joined recruitment company Robert Walters, became a board member of the Taxpayers’ Union and started his own firm, Nash Kelly Global, which helped facilitate the entry of wealthy individuals into New Zealand. In the meantime, a chance encounter between Nash and Peters in 2024 sparked a conversation in which Nash expressed his interest in NZ First, and he was invited by Peters to discuss the prospect of joining the party. Nash outed his intention to return to Parliament when he appeared as a guest speaker at NZ First’s annual convention in September last year, a signal NZ First was seeking to make inroads into Labour’s blue-collar base. New Zealand First leader Winston Peters (right) sitting with Stuart Nash at the party's 2025 convention. Photo / Mark Mitchell In his speech, Nash proclaimed NZ First as the only party focused on core issues while criticising his former party as “woke” and claiming Hipkins had “stabbed him in the back”. While Nash wouldn’t directly answer questions about joining NZ First at the time, Peters then said Nash would be a “seamless” addition to his party. Only days after the convention, Nash appeared on the media outlet The Platform and when asked to define a woman, he replied: “A person with a p***y and a pair of t**s.” The comment led to Nash resigning from Robert Walters and the Taxpayers’ Union board. He was also dumped from a Government trad...
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